Food Friday: Merrick Wingaling Canned Dog Food

We all know that dogs aren't supposed to eat cooked chicken bones, so why in the world does Merrick's Wingaling canned dog food have actual chicken wings in it? Is this some sort of mistake? Actually, the bones are cooked in a special process (involving a pressure cooker) that leaves them soft and squishy and totally safe and non-splintery. The result is an unusual treat for your dog. Safe chicken bones!

Merrick Pet Food

For years, Merrick was well-known for being one of the best independent pet food companies out there. They had their own manufacturing facilities, sourced all their ingredients domestically, and had been around for years. It was the sort of feel-good brand that hardly anyone had complaints about. They started out making dog treats, and then expanded their product lines to include both canned and dry dog and cat foods. I had been fond of them for years because they offered so many different flavors and varieties.

All that changed in 2015 when the company was purchased  by Purina. Now they are owned by a giant faceless corporation. While consumers have been promised that nothing will change about the facilities, production, ingredients, etc, it's a tough claim to swallow. My biggest concern is the sourcing of ingredients. Not that I think they're suddenly buying meat from China, just that they can switch to buying much lower qualities of ingredients without having to change anything on the label. Maybe they used to buy fresh apples and now they're buying giant bricks of frozen apples that have been in storage for years, stuff like that.

Wingaling Has Chicken Bones

Ok, this dog food is unique because it contains whole chicken wings, bones and all. Everybody knows dogs can't eat chicken bones! Well, raw feeders know that dogs can eat fresh, raw chicken bones, but they still should never have cooked chicken bones! Right?

Did you know that you can put chicken bones in a pressure cooker and make them soft and crumbly? It's true, and I would totally do it with all my chicken bones if I owned a pressure cooker. Such a tasty treat for dogs! 

The whole chicken bones in Merrick's canned dog foods are cooked soft, and can easily be mashed with a spoon if you are at all worried about them stabbing your dog in the digestive tract. You can also pull the bones out and throw them away, if you wish. 

I bought a can of Wingaling for Ru mostly out for novelty. This food contains a couple of chicken wings, some squishy chunks of processed food, and a whole lot of broth. Even though it's got 334 calories per can, it just doesn't fee like very much food. It's also difficult to split into multiple portions, or to use as a kibble topper.

The Verdict

I know some dogs absolutely love pressure cooked squishy chicken bones, but Ru is not a Wingaling fan. It might be because he doesn't enjoy this particular flavor, and it might be because he's been getting a little too much leftover taco meat as a snack, but I can't get him to even taste the actual wings. The girls will be finishing this can.

Food Friday: Alternative Protein Roundup, Venison Edition

Brisbane's Bark Blog is approaching its second birthday, and we're taking a look back at some of the unique and interesting goodies we've found for dogs with food allergies. Brisbane himself is allergic to poultry and eggs, and was recently diagnosed with corn, barley, and sweet potato allergies as well. Finding foods, treats, and chews for him is an ongoing project, and I'm always looking for new things to try.

Venison is a popular protein found in quite a few limited ingredient diets intended for dogs with food allergies. I assume it's also somewhat easy to get in places where people hunt. Here on the coast of southern California, nobody hunts. Well maybe a few people do, but nobody talks about it. Saying you go out and kill animals for sport sort of feels antisocial, unless those animals are fish. Guns aren't common either, and the people who do have them tend to keep them in lockers at shooting ranges. I have seen a number of raw feeders recommend asking friends that hunt for their freezerburned deer meat, which seems downright foreign when I know so many people that have never even tasted venison.

Photo by Erin Koski

Anyway, venison is a nice flavorful game meat that my dogs absolutely love. Like rabbit, it is a common alternative protein that does not seem to be a common allergen yet.

Venison Food

Stella & Chewy's makes both freeze-dried and frozen Simply Venison raw dog food. Primal also offer a frozen raw singe-protein venison food in their Primal Nuggets product line.  

In the non-raw food department, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Sweet Potato and Venison food was a common sight around my house until I figured out that Brisbane was allergic to sweet potatoes. We also tried the canned version back when the place I worked still carried it. Wysong gave me a coupon for free shipping, so I bought a bag of Epigen Venison, but Ru didn't like it. I'm not sure I would buy it again because it contained powdered barley grass and Briz has a barley allergy. Likewise, we'll be skipping the Party Animal Heavenly Venison canned food from now on because it contains sweet potatoes. 

So far, I think our favorite venison-based single-protein dog food has been the Canine Caviar Wilderness dog food. The canned version also went over well here. It's awfully high in calories for Brisbane, though. At the moment, we're working our way through the big bag of Pure Vita Venison and Red Lentils that the company handed out when my employers started carrying their products. Free dog food is my favorite kind of dog food. Ziwi Peak makes an air-dried venison, but it costs way more than their beef dog food so I've not been able to bring myself to buy it yet. I bet it smells horrible yet wonderful.

Venison Treats

So far I think our absolute favorite treat has been the Superior Farms Venison Crepe. It was basically a soft, delicious rawhide chew, but made out of a deer instead. We've had numerous Etta Says Deer Chews show up in our monthly subscription boxes, and they never last long. Less exciting are Natural Balance's LID Sweet Potato and Venison cookies. One of our favorite training treats so far has been the Merrick Venison Holiday Stew sausages.

What other deer-based, elk-based, or moose-based products are out there that we haven't tried yet?

Treat Tuesday: Merrick Venison Holiday Stew Sausage Treat

I ordered these Merrick Venison Holiday Stew Sausages from Chewy.com. These are soft, semi-moist little treat rolls. This venison recipe ismade from venison, beef, oatmeal, potato, apples, carrots, and peas. Perfect for Brisbane's poultry/egg/corn/barley/sweet potato allergies.

Good For: Chopping into quarters lengthwise and then into tiny pieces for training treats. Hiding in puzzle toys. Keeping Brisbane's attention while I do his allergy shots.

Not Good For: Feeding the dogs without getting my hands all yucky.

How Much We Like Them: They're a nice bit of variety in Brisbane's ever-shrinking pool of treat possibilities.

Food Friday: Merrick Grain Free 96% Real Beef+Lamb+Buffalo Canned

This Grain Free 96% Real Beef+Lamb+Buffalo canned dog food by Merrick is safe for Brisbane's poultry and egg allergies. It is made in the company's own facility, and does not include any ingredients from China. Most of the ingredients are sourced in the USA, though lamb and venison tend to come from New Zealand because that's where the good stuff is...made? grown?

Anyway, this is a meat food made out of meat. Lots of meat. All different kinds of meat. The first four ingredients are beef, beef broth, lamb, and buffalo. After that it's just vitamins and stuff. There's no sneaky chicken meal making up the majority of the final product. No eggs or chicken fat, either. 

We do a lot of limited ingredient diets due to Brisbane's allergies, and it's nice to find something with multiple flavors and no chicken, turkey, duck, or egg ingredients. 

What About Purina?!

Merrick is one of my favorite dog food companies, but I won't be buying any more of their food. Back in June, Merrick signed a purchase agreement with Purina. The company press release says the owner thinks Purina can take their business "to the next level". So far there are no changes to management or operations planned, and Merrick will supposedly continue operating as an independent company. 

But Purina is Bad, Right?

Purina is...complicated. They do make cheap crap dog food for the masses to buy at the grocery store. Beneful is made mostly out of corn, with a little chicken by-product and a whole lot of sparkly advertising thrown in. The advertising is a bit nuts, a whole lot of people are convinced that Beneful is the good stuff.

On the other hand, a lot of very knowledgeable dog people feed higher-end Purina Pro Plan and Purina One with very good results. The general consensus is that it's worth trying as long as you look at your dog and not the ingredient label. Not all dogs do well on it, and it's not something I'm likely to try because they don't even make anything Brisbane can eat. Still, I don't buy into the 'Purina=poison!' hysteria. A large chunk of the general public believes that a 50-lb sack of kibble should cost $20, and if Purina doesn't sell it to them then someone else will.

So Purina is Ok Then?

Not exactly. Like I said, it's complicated. Merrick currently claim that nothing will change, but consumers report that similar buyouts of beloved dog food companies have stated the same thing in the beginning. It's business as usual for the first few months, but things change. Not big things, Merrick won't suddenly be made out of corn and by-products overnight. It's little things, like buying lower-quality meat meals from a cheaper supplier. Stuff like that isn't reflected on the ingredients label, but it might change the guaranteed analysis and upset very sensitive tummies. Bigger formula changes tend to come later, well after the buyout when consumer confidence is stronger.

So Just Read the Label, Right?

Nope. The product label won't help you this time. Did you know that pet food companies are allowed to alter their ingredients without changing the label? They have a six-month grace period in which to use up all their old product packaging before they have to actually tell us what's really in the food. For sixth months they can just throw whatever they want in there, and then they either have to change the label or change the recipe back. Most small pet food businesses won't do this to their customers because they like us and want us to trust them. Purina is already selling tons of dog food to poorly-informed people at the grocery store, they don't need discerning and educated customers to trust them.

So...No Merrick Anymore?

I will not be feeding my dogs Merrick food anymore because I no longer trust the accuracy of the product labels. This may not be as big an issue for some customers, but I have a dog with food allergies and I need to know exactly what I'm feeding him. People who aren't terribly concerned about ingredient sourcing or labeling accuracy can go ahead and keep feeding Merrick without worry. 

Have you ever fed any Purina products?

Treat Tuesday: Fruitables Skinny Minis and Merrick Power Bites

I noticed Fruitables Skinny Minis and Merrick Power Bites in stores for the first time about a day apart. I'm pretty sure these were both revealed at SuperZoo 2015, and his stores just after that. SuperZoo is one of the biggest pet trade shows in the world, it happens at the end of July every year and we can expect a flurry of new products to hit the market immediately afterward.

These are both chewy, semi-moist, small, stinky training treats and basically the same thing. The big difference is that the Merrick Power Bites are grain-free. Those are made out of peas and potatoes, while the Fruitables Skinny Minis are made out of oatmeal and brown rice. Power Bites have beef at the top of the ingredient list, Skinny Minis have bison quite a bit further down below some grain ingredients. Both are sourced and made in the USA.

Good For: Mid-value training treats for balance work and low-distraction environments. Happy food-loving cattledogs.

Not Good For: Picky chihuahuas who think they want to do balance work but then decide it's not worth it when they find out what they'll be getting paid.

How Much We Like Them: Both of those bags are basically empty. I have another of the Skinny Minis because I got a two-for-one deal on them.

Food Friday: Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Great Plains Red Recipe

I just got a bag of Merrick's new Backcountry Raw Infused dog food. I got the Great Plains Red Recipe, which is a lamb- and salmon-based food that is poultry-free and egg-free. This is a grain-free kibble that is mixed with chunks of freeze-dried raw meat.

Brisbane is allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs. Most safe kibbles for him are fish-based, so it's nice to find one that's sort of based on terrestrial animals and doesn't manage to sneak egg whites or duck fat in there. Briz eats anything edible so taste isn't really an issue for him. Ru is significantly more picky but enjoyed this quite a bit.

It's worth noting that the bag proclaims this to be a beef, lamb, and rabbit food. While it does contain those meats, the primary meat meal ingredients are lamb meal and salmon meal, which make up a much greater percentage of the food once all the water is cooked out.

I like Merrick for a number of reasons. The company produces their own food in their own facility in the USA. Most of their ingredients are sourced from the USA, with some sourced from places like New Zealand where higher quality lamb is available. The company tests its ingredients and its finished products as well. While Merrick had several product recalls in 2010 and 2011, the products recalled were all treats. Merrick's canned and dry foods have never been recalled as far as I can tell.

I also like the immense variety of flavors and recipes that Merrick offers.

While I may like the company and their products, however, I do find the hype surrounding this Backcountry Raw Infused food to be a bit overdone. They've gone full Natural Fallacy with this one, complete with pictures of wolves and excessive use of the word "ancestral". Still, it's a great company if that's my biggest complaint.

At 374 kcal per cup, Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Great Plains Red Recipe is lower calorie than Acana Ranchlands. This is better for Brisbane, who needs his calories limited, but not so good for Ru's tiny stomach. Still, this would be a good choice of food if I decided to feed my dogs only one thing.